Short and Sweet
The groundbreaking American silent science-fiction and adventure film that brought dinosaurs to the silver screen for the very first time using stop-motion technology! The eccentric Professor Challenger claims to have discovered surviving prehistoric creatures on a remote plateau in South America. A risky expedition sets out to find proof. The researchers find themselves trapped in a treacherous world full of danger—but the ultimate catastrophe strikes when a captured dinosaur escapes in the middle of London…
Plot
Young journalist Edward Malone wants to prove his bravery to the woman he loves and joins an expedition led by Professor Challenger. Challenger claims that deep within the Amazon jungle lies an isolated world where dinosaurs still roam. Together with the skeptical Professor Summerlee, the big-game hunter Lord John Roxton, and Paula White, the daughter of an explorer who went missing there, the group sets off.
Against all odds, they manage to ascend a mysterious, steep plateau. There, they find themselves in a prehistoric landscape populated by Brontosauruses, Allosauruses, and dangerous ape-men. When their path back is cut off, they must fight for survival. Ultimately, the group manages to escape back to England, thanks to the rescue of a captured Brontosaurus calf. In London, the creature is meant to be presented to an astonished public. However, the colossal beast breaks free, rampages through the city, collapses Tower Bridge, and finally plunges into the River Thames.
About the Film
Director Harry O. Hoyt created a milestone in cinematic history with this adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel of the same name. Willis O’Brien was responsible for the then-revolutionary special effects and the animation of the dinosaurs; he would later perfect his techniques for the classic King Kong (1933). The Lost World premiered on February 2, 1925, in the United States. Contemporary critics were overwhelmed by the technical pioneering achievement and the lifelikeness of the prehistoric monsters, which left audiences in absolute awe. The film is considered the granddaddy of the entire dinosaur genre in cinema.
